Sailor Magellan Photo Post

Sailor Magellan Demonstrator – Medium Nib (1998)

Wow. That’s all I have to say about this pen. I purchased this pen on a whim from GoPens.com’s Quarterly Catalog. Continuing the streak of buying Sailor Pens for $55, I picked up this NOS 1998 Sailor Magellan Demonstrator, with a medium, 14k gold nib. The clip has some weird corrosion on it, but it’s easily looked over. I can not begin to tell you how smoothly this pen writes. It’s amazing, and I practically zone out every time I’m using it out of pure writing enjoyment. Why am I not doing a full review on this pen? The answer is because it’s no longer available and I have had some trouble getting any more information on it. However, in the picture below, you’ll see a bullet style review written out using the categories I use in my full pen reviews. Please enjoy the photos, and if you happen to see one of these out in the wild for sale, jump on it!

Intro:

Impulse buy – at $50, how could I say no?

Hard to find – going on 15 years old

Hands down, the smoothest writing pen I own

Appearance and Packaging:

Demo with gold accents – I like, don’t love, it

Nib is very plain, lightly stamped anchor and some filigree

Gold band at grip looks good – like the Pelikan M605’s silver band

Original pen comes with a box – this one didn’t

Regular full-sized pen – in between the Sapporo and the Professional Gear

Nib and Filling System:

Super wet, super smooth – smoothest pen I own

About the same nib width as a Lamy 2000 medium

Big step in width from a modern Professional Gear fine nib

Fills with cartridge or converter – nothing special

Feel:

Medium weight – feels good for extended writing sessions

Size is good – comfortable both posted and non-posted

Grip is comfortable – between Professional Gear and Sapporo

Feels like the Pelikan M605 – but 1/6 of the price…

Pros:

Smoothest. Pen. Ever.

OMG at the price I paid ($55 shipped…)

Weight and balance are idea

Cons:

Cleaning demonstrators (to OCD clean) is not fun…

Flies through ink (which isn’t bad for me)

Conclusion:

Everything happens for a reason – I sold my Pelikan M605, and this pen came into my life shortly after, filling any and all void left behind

Amazing nib / writing experience

Looks great

Price was amazing – not biased – I would have gladly paid full retail for this pen. It’s a better writer than my M605 was.

I have only used Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun in the pen so far, I’m sure a bright blue would look great sloshing around in there.Here it is on the back cover of a Rhodia pad – needs some contrast to show off the innards.You can see the wonderful, great, super awesome, best-nib-ever through the cap. The inner plastic has become a little cloudy and is a pain in the neck to get out to clean. Oh well.The text on the cap band looks a little outdated, but that’s perfectly fine because it’s a pen from the 90’s. You can see the corrosion on the cap – maybe this Sailor wasn’t stored so carefully?Alternate view – the other side at the same angle. It’s nice to be able to see the nib. I really wish I loaded it up with a brighter ink for these pictures!The nib is really rather plain, but that’s okay. I prefer the more elaborate Sailor nibs.It’s crazy how much this pen feels like my ex-Pelikan M605. The weight and balance are quite similar. The gold band at the end of the grip reminds me of the silver one on the Pelikan.Dark and brooding nib picture. This thing mercilessly pours out ink. I swear you can see the converter emptying as you write.All posted up. Very classy looking pen.Compared to a posted Kaweco AL-Star. The pen is a decent amount bigger when posted, that extra centimeter or so really makes a difference.That nib in action.The super wet nib allows for some great shading.

Congratulations, Ed! The Magellan is a neat Sailor to acquire, and the nibs are among the best, IMHO. If you don’t mind, I’m going to link to your review in a Magellan post I wrote earlier this year. I’ve never head of the demonstrator Magellan—but that’s thing about this particular model, there were many materials used outside of the “official” Magellan materials, and there’s no list available to us! So it’s cool to see them pop up from time to time, and we all go “ohhhhh!” Cheers to you.

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